Eppy 204: Deck the Howls: Newly Discovered
by jax2u
Summary: Jeddie story, of course, that takes place during the Christmas episode. same story line with "the wolf" just more detailed and the scenes we never saw! *sorry i know its been a while for an update, but life happens sometimes*
1. Chapter 1

It was Christmas Eve. A beautiful Christmas Eve as well. The snow began to fall late afternoon and everything was just now being completely covered in whiteness. After helping Hannah this morning prep for dinner later that night, Janet stopped home to shower and freshen up for dinner later. And for him too. The plan was to go grab some coffee and chat for a bit before Janet had to be back at Hannah's for dinner, then exchange gifts later. So Eddie and Janet went back to his truck that was parked in town on October Rd to talk. He wanted to tell her about what has been happening back at his place between Phil, his parents and Pizza Girl, and she wanted to tell him how Hannah was nervous about dinner and freaking out over purchasing salted butter instead of unsalted. However, Janet being her impatient self could not wait till later to give Eddie 'the best Christmas gift ever,' so she surprised him with his gift now.

"Okay, ready? Open it!"

"I, I didn't know we were doing this now! I don't even have your present with me!" If he had to be real with himself, Eddie was excited she brought his gift now. He loved getting presents because in his family, presents only came twice a year: on birthdays and Christmas. No in betweens, no little surprises, no "congrats with school this year" money or gifts, just birthdays and Christmas'. The upside to that, _giving_ gifts to people was that much more satisfying. So yes, Eddie was elated to see the big, perfectly wrapped red box with gold ribbon on the sides and a red metallic bow on top, sitting in between them in his truck. Surprised? Yes, and no. Janet is a very anxious person and hates keeping secrets, so knowing her she's been biting her lip about whatever is in this box for far too long to her liking. So no surprise when she replied with "It's ok!" and an enormous grin and giggles. She was soo ready for him to open that big red box that had peepholes on it. Wait. What? Peepholes- air holes? In a box? He looked at her, she was still smiley and encouraging him to open it. Well, alright… he lifted the lid, looked inside, and saw fur.

"Remember how you told me how when Rocket died, the hardest part for you was plowing? Cuz he was always by your side, middle of the night, you two in the snow…"

The entire time Janet was explaining this lil puff of fur that was just sitting there in the box, he watched her pet it lovingly as it loved her back.

"You got me a dog?" She nodded, still smiley. "You_ got_ me a dog…" Now he was looking at it but with disbelief, shock, confusion, and anger.

"You don't- its not. Uhh…"

"A dog is a tremendous amount of responsibility Janet! You can't just **give** someone a dog." He wasn't really mad per-say, he couldn't be mad at her. It was a clever gift, he could give her that much. She meant well with the whole Rocket thing. But a dog… was she for real? Eddie was so flabbergasted at what just happened he did not even notice the pure look of disappointment that was allll over her face.

"I figured because you had a dog, and you know-"

"I didn't have a dog! I, I had Rocket. And there's a reason that I didn't replace Rocket is because he couldn't be replaced. At least not until I'm ready, and I'm not ready!!"

Ohhh crap. She definitely touched a sensitive spot. Well shoot, now she could barely look at him! What do you say to that? Do people really take back Christmas gifts like this? Can you even take back a dog? How the hell would she know?! She's only had 1 dog her entire life and as far as she knew, he was still kickin back in her laundry room!

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it as a… I can take him back!"

But as she said that, Eddie **really** looked at the puppy that was in front of him for the first time. His ears… were pointy. His muzzle… was long. His teeth… were huge! HA! Puppy his ass!

"Where did you get this dog?"

_What kind of question is that?_ "Monk MaGuilicuty came into the bar last week with a litter of puppies."

"Monk MaGuilicuty?! Who set fire to the church our senior year of high school?"

She shrugged her shoulders, rolled her eyes, and for a split second remembered how chaotic the town got that night the church was on fire… good times. "Umm I guess, why?"

"No reason except uh, this is not a puppy."

"What do you mean it's not a puppy?!"

"It's a wolf."

"What do you mean it's a wolf?!"

"I mean… it's a _wolf!_"

Is he insane. Janet would know a wolf when she's seen one! How could she forget her Brownies summer camping trip of '92? A whole pack of wolves ate the entire Brownie troupes dinner. And dessert for that matter. Then again, this lil guy did have big ears… "I got you a wolf?"

Naaaw! He was just playing an early April Fools joke on her. Not. "Chea! You got me a wolf…"

In that moment, Janet wished she had a secret power to turn herself invisible.

_Ohhhhhh. Myyyyyy. God. _


	2. Chapter 2

_This is not happening this is not happening I did not give him a wolf I gave him a dog not a wolf. Stuff like that does not happen this cannot be happening to me right now. This is not happening I did not give him a wolf… I can't believe I gave him a wolf. Smart move Janet he's surely going to dumb your ass now… this IS NOT HAPPENING!!! _

"Janet. Jaaanet… I, uh, I think this lil guy did a lil business in this box here."

It took her a few to realize he was talking to her because she was wishing so hard that all of this was a dream. "Huh? Sorry. What did you say?"

"I think he just, ya know. Pooped."

Definitely not a dream. Crap.

"Wait, are you serious?"

"Oh yea."

"I paid $10 for this box to come pre-wrapped. It now has puppy- uh, wolf crap in it."

Eddie knew better then to laugh at that. Despite how much he wanted to… he knew that would call for a slap on the shoulder. So he just snickered at best. "Sooo I guess this means its time for me to drop you off so uh, Wolfie here can finish outside of this $10 box."

"Yeaaa. Guesso." He nodded, still laughing to himself, turned on the ignition and pulled out on to October Rd.

* * *

The ride to Janet's was relatively quiet. Even though it was a short ride, Janet swore he was going around in circles getting lost. But eventually they pulled into her driveway and she couldn't get out of his truck fast enough. Normally she would wait for Eddie to walk around and open her door to help her out of this mountainous truck, but she was a country girl. And everyone knows a country girl can climb no matter what they are wearing. The one thing she could not do though was reach the wolf once she was on the ground.

Damn her height, or lack there of. But leave it to Eddie to be the gentleman he is and be one step ahead of her, even when he was mad. He stepped in front of her, lifted the perfectly wrapped box, and the wolf, and held it in front of Janet to take. She wasn't sure if she should say something about what happened the past 15 minutes, or say something about them possibly getting together again later, that is if there will even be a later. Or should she just say talk to you later and leave it at that? It was in that moment that she realized how worried she was about the possibility of maybe pushing him away and losing him… she looked at the pup- wolf; his eyes were so innocent and helpless… _I feel ya buddy. _"Alright Wolfie, lets go. The field trip is over."

She picked him up out of the box and just poured her focus on the puff of fur in her arms. Anything to avoid the obvious awkwardness between her and Eddie. But he decided to say something after all.

"So I'll just call you later to see how dinners going. Sound good?" It was as if he was pleading for her to say it was ok to call.

"Yea sure" was her reply with that phony, answer pleasing voice.

"Alright well I better get a start on these streets, the snow doesn't seem to be letting up much. Don't put Wolfie with Bruno though, they might butt heads. And who knows who will win; Bruno doesn't have a whole lot of tough guy left in him let alone with a wolf."

Well, he at least tried to make a joke, but she didn't seem to take it half-heartedly.

"Ok I won't. I'll put him in my garage or something. I better take him out back though, so I'll just talk to you later then." Oh geez, she was faking the happiness hard. And he was just being, straight faced. Not a whole lot of emotion at all. He did however pet Wolfie on the head and said "don't give J anymore trouble, okay?"

Yes, please Wolfie, no more trouble.

When she got about half way up the driveway is when he realized he was still holding that box. "J! I got the $10 box!"

"Oh just keep it! I don't need it, trust me." Then she quietly said for only Wolfie's pointy ears, "no mo puppy or wolf surprises from me to anyone, anymore."

Eddie watched Janet and the wolf go inside to make sure they got in safe, but then realized he still had this damn box! This box that reminded him of a moment he sort of wanted to forget. But not only did he have this box, but a poop filled box. He had a $10 wolf-poop-filled box. _What the hell do I want this box for? And what the hell am I ganna do with it? _He thought about ditching the poop on Janet's neighbor's lawn, but as a landscaper, he knew certain animal feces was not a good thing for grass. Even in the wintertime. It was not a good fertilizer, just a good stinkafier. The dumpster behind the window shop sounded good though.

* * *

Once he got there and deposited the perfectly wrapped box that was supposed to be for a perfectly planned Christmas gift, Eddie sat in his truck in silence going over in his head what exactly just happened.

They went for coffee. They had a nice chat. She said open it. He did. There was a puppy turned wolf, in his truck. It went from being a nice afternoon, to a nightmare. Well okay, nightmare might be a little extreme, but how it went from being so nice to being so not… he still did not get. Was it his fault? Maybe. Did he over react? A little. But it wasn't the dog/wolf part that freaked him out. Sure what he said about not being able to move on from Rocket was true, but that was not all of the reason.

When a person gives someone a dog, usually it's some parents giving their 7 year old child a puppy to please them, or for protection reasons, or for a working dog. Take your pick but all of these reasons are personal reasons. So personal that you plan on seeing the puppy turn into a dog along side you. Yea Eddie didn't plan on breaking up with Janet any time soon, but usually he gets a nice tie, or a night to Boston in a hotel room for Christmas from a girl. Not a puppy. Yes Janet was different; she was thoughtful, very thoughtful, and listened to him when he spoke, but a gift like a puppy means commitment. Commitment to the dog, to yourself, and to whomever gave it to you. If he kept it, whenever he would see that damn dog, or what was supposed to be a dog, his mind would instinctively turn to her. **Her.** And what if things just didn't work out between them after all? He would still have this animal living in his house that represented what was, and maybe what could have been.

He was not willing to go there just yet.

* * *

"Why did you have to be a wolf. I mean no offense, but I don't like wolves very much and you can't exactly raise a wolf as a pet. You're cute now, but seriously. Why did you have to be a wolf?! And I would really appreciate if you finished up your business soon because is just freezing out here and some of us don't exactly have a nice fur coat on our backs. Wait, why am I blaming you? This isn't your fault. I mean I knew it wasn't your fault and it certainly wasn't my fault you turned out to be a wolf and it wasn't Eddie's fault either, buuut it was my fault for thinking I could get away with a gift **like **you. I just wanted to give him something special ya know? Something different. Something meaningful. Something nice, something no other girl he has ever gone out with could even get the idea of giving him! And boy did I sure do that… maybe a lil too much meaningful.

I mean I should know, I should know what a dog could mean to people! I love my Bruno! And I'll probably need a lot of time off at work once he dies, and Rocket meant a lot to Eddie. I should have known that by the way he talked about him… I swear I wasn't trying to replace him though Wolfie! Honestly! I just wanted him to feel better about this whole job-switching thing… I thought it would be easier and a little less painful for him if he had another dog to share his long nights with. Ya know, being it possibly or probably his last Christmas having his own landscaping company. I dunno maybe it was just all a little too good to be true. All I know is, I screwed up. Majorly. And I have no idea how I'm going to fix it. Any ideas? No? None? Just a sad little look? Fiiine, let's go inside. I'm sure if I give you some dog food you'll eat it anyway."


End file.
